Sunday 24 April 2016

Private Probation - A Soundbite World

Dear Jim,

As a probation 'long-termer' who managed to get out some time ago, I thought you might be interested in some observations from the West Yorkshire CRC Stakeholder event in Wakefield last week.

It's fairly clear that owners Interserve spent a tidy sum preparing their Purple Futures bid to impress the mandarins at the MoJ and of course they were duly rewarded with 5 out of the 21 CRC contracts, including that of West Yorkshire. They were canny enough to get into bed with a number of charities that included Shelter - although they seem to have a very low profile nowadays - and of course we know Addaction didn't like the way things were going and were quick to get out. 

The image consultants gave them some clever slogans that to be honest wouldn't be that out of place with outfits that could range from the Freemasons to Unilever I guess:  
  • Do the right thing
  • Take pride in what you do
  • Everyone has a voice
  • Bring better to life
They also invested in some cool marketing and graphic design for their operating model 'The Interchange Journey - intervene, interact, integrate' and even paid Manchester University to evaluate it. Of course, despite the fancy graphics, to those of us who've been around awhile, there's basically nothing new in the concept, but judging by the enthusiastic presentations by newer recruits to the service, it certainly appears to have captured their imagination.    



Although being repeatedly told everything would be tailored to the individual, the cogs rather give the impression of a machine cleverly designed to process 'service users' through a system that produces rehabilitated individuals as efficiently and cost effectively as possible but commensurate with contract performance and payment-by-result targets, naturally. Something tells me it's not going to be quite as straightforward as the designers envisage, but I can certainly see how the MoJ have been seduced by it.

There was no surprise in hearing that OASys, that all-singing, all-dancing computer-based timewasting device was indeed a complete waste of time and will be got rid of as soon as possible, in favour of a brand new simpler assessment system. Lets hope it works then. 

Despite all the warm words and exhortations of the need to "all work together", I got the distinct impression from some quiet mutterings between 'stakeholders' in the room hoping to get a slice of the action that there was a degree of cynicism regarding Interserve's contracting policies and philosophy. The repeatedly-dangled carrot of lots of cash just waiting to be given away by the 'Innovation Fund' to stakeholders with bright ideas seemed to generate rather more hollow laughter than serious interest.

We learnt that:
  • There's to be a 24 hour helpline for former and current service users
  • A search is on for a bright new shiny contemporary Head Office in Wakefield
  • An online Directory of Services will facilitate 'Pick & Mix' for busy OM's
  • A Rent Deposit Scheme will help with accommodation problems
  • Every service user will get a certificate at the end
  • There will be Service User Councils 
  • Practitioners can share ideas via Panels to be set up
  • TTG 'is a bit of a ropey contract spec'
As always at events like this there were some extremely variable presentations, mostly it has to be said from the more senior management team. But it will come as no surprise to hear that 'Right Direction' volunteer peer mentors proved stars of the show, thus demonstrating to me at least, that in all this sorry mess that TR has generated, the reason many of us got involved in the first place remains exactly the same.  

35 comments:

  1. http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/23/police-volunteers-deployed-serious-crimes

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    1. Civilian volunteers could be deployed to the scenes of terrorist attacks or to attend cases involving the sexual abuse of children, following major cuts to police budgets and the number of frontline officers.

      Earlier this year the home secretary, Theresa May, announced that unpaid staff were to be given police-style powers, including being able to detain a person for 30 minutes or hand out fixed-penalty notices.

      It has now emerged that, with 12,000 frontline police officers having left the profession since 2010, the government is refusing to set limits on how volunteers are deployed by forces.

      Asked in the House of Commons last week whether their deployment would be limited in cases of child sexual exploitation, serious crime and counter-terrorism, the policing minister, James Brokenshire, revealed that no such bar would be set.

      The minister said that volunteers would be deployed only if appropriately trained, but added: “Our consultation on the reform of the roles and powers of civilians and volunteers demonstrated the demand from forces for flexibility in how they deploy volunteer staff, and therefore we should not make assumptions about the operational areas where volunteers can make a contribution.

      “These reforms will place the individual decision-making as to which personnel perform which roles firmly in the hands of chief officers, who have the professional expertise and local knowledge to know which powers are needed in their area.”

      Brokenshire said it was important not to restrict the operational powers of the police, “who retain the right to deploy staff as they see fit”.

      Shadow home secretary Andy Burnham on Saturday accused the government of taking on unpaid civilians to fill the gaps left by budget cuts. There are currently at least 9,000 volunteers working with police forces.

      Burnham said: “David Cameron and Theresa May need telling – you simply can’t have policing on the cheap. Just when security concerns are paramount, they have hatched a plan for thousands of volunteers to attend even the most serious cases. Public safety is at risk if the police cannot mount experienced officers in the event of an attack. There’s a proud tradition of the public volunteering with the police, but not replacing them. Labour is calling time on this plan – the government cannot cut the police budget and ask the general public to take the jobs.”

      Labour is to ask MPs to block the proposals on the use of volunteers in the upcoming policing and crime bill. The reforms would for the first time see volunteers given powers without becoming special constables, including the ability to hand out fixed-penalty notices, take witness statements, confiscate drugs, alcohol or tobacco and control traffic. They will be able to detain a person for up to 30 minutes but, unlike special constables, they will not have the power of arrest.

      The development comes at a sensitive time for the government, with annual crime figures released last week reporting that the murder rate in England and Wales rose by 11% to 573 homicides in 2015. Knife crime also rose by 9% and sexual offences, including rape, increased by 29% to top 100,000 for the first time in 2015, suggesting that a decade-long decline in violent crime is over. Overall crime continued to fall, by 7%, with an estimated 6.4 million offences in 2015.

      Earlier this year the chancellor, George Osborne, was rebuked by the UK Statistics Authority for wrongly claiming there would be “no cuts at all in police budgets” in his autumn statement last November.

      Sir Andrew Dilnot, its chair, ruled that despite Osborne’s claim to be providing “real-terms protection” for the police, forces actually faced a £160m real-terms cut in their Whitehall funding in 2015-16 and 2016-17.

      A Commons analysis estimated that the £160m cut was equal to the salaries of 3,200 police officers over the two years.

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  2. Will this open doors to those with vigilante aspirations in our communities?

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  3. Apart from a 24 hour helpline, everything 'new' suggested by purple futures was available under trusts. None of it actually enhances our work without the staffing, resources, accessed to employment and housing, etc. Without this the 'interchange model' is useless.

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    1. Hmm rent deposit schemes were never available under probation so that's new

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    2. Could get them via the council/housing partnership in my bit of london

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    3. Yep, rent deposit schemes are available via most if not all housing departments nationwide. I'd be surprised if the CRC was going to put up the money itself though (please do correct me if I'm wrong).

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    4. I can confirm the crc is putting up the money

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    5. Ah but at another conf . YT commented that PF should not have to fund such schemes and warned of the danger of plugging the gaps left by the withdrawal of LA and Govt funding. In essence she wasn't happy.

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    6. Rent deposit/ Social Bonds are available vis LAs but not for the single , no dependants , prison leaver regular CRC Service User. Now, if TTG providers are to meet their targets and CRCs are to impact on reoffending rates then of course accommodation is key hence PF funding this scheme.Its hardly innovative is it?

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    7. What is this PF aka NOMS obsession with Stakeholder conferences where small orgs turn up hoping to get a few bob but only if they can prove they are innovative or maybe get a grant (new freedom) but then need to email 3SC to register even though they have been working with OMs for years but of course no one has the asked the OMs who they want on the DoS have they and the only steak around was in the steak pies as this is the North and we don't eat quiche . Hope you all kept up.

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  4. Brokenshire - shouldn't that be broken country?

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  5. Courts make the orders, CRCs bring them back under applications to remove x, y, or z which they tell the court will "promote successful completion of the order". Kerching. Worryingly I heard a Magistrate tell someone "we wish you every success on your journey". Nothing intrinsically wrong with that - it was the word 'journey' that intrigued me, being used ad nauseam by the profiteers.

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    1. If the CRC takes an Order back to court for removal of a programme, say, they don't get paid for delivery of that component. So all the time put in to trying to achieve it is essentially wasted. Hardly "kerching", then.

      I see lots of highly unsuitable orders coming through from the courts. We do our best to make them work, but when they just can't be delivered, the court need to know about it. I would argue that this is actually a better situation than in days gone by when we would just allow an Order to end, even if requirements weren't fully completed. This way there's more accountability.

      From my perspective the problem lies in unrealistic sentencing, which in my local courts is a combination of over-stretched NPS staff pushed to do a ridiculous number of oral reports on the day - usually without anywhere near enough information - and sentencers who seem increasingly reluctant to listen to informed argument and just decide that they know best.

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    2. I understood that if an NPS case is sentenced to Unpaid Work but it is taken back as unworkable by NPS and removed by the Court, CRCs will still be paid for the Unpaid Work despite it not having to be done.

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    3. I'm not really sure I see the problem with that example. If it was unworkable at the start of the sentence, then the NPS assessment at PSR stage was inadequate. If the UPW requirement becomes unworkable some way through the order, then the CRC should be paid for having done the work. There's an argument to be had about whether the payment should be pro rata, but since the CRC isn't making the decision about returning it to court, I can see the case for arguing that it should be paid the full fee.

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  6. Or:

    The Interchange Journey - Don't Stop Believing - Hold On To That Feeling.

    And:

    Be Excellent To Each Other.

    My consultancy invoice to Interserve is in the post.

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  7. The financial incentive is producing skewed practice. OMs say they are following management instructions as they no longer have any discretion to make their own decisions - eg breach rather than an inappropriate application.

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  8. to TONTO - 23/4, 19 32. Re your request for DV worksheets, I am a retired PO who kept a whole archive of books, programmes etc, and I have the CDVP case managers manual, with the theory and all the exercises - never used. But quite heavy to post. I am happy to hand it over if you live relatively near. Which part of the country are you from?

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    1. South west. Anywhere near you?

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    2. sorry - north east - near Newcastle!!! I can check out at Post office the cost of postage but it won't be cheap - over 100 pages.

      Tonto -Are you anywhere near Devon? I know someone who visit family there. Whether they would be willing to take the folder/manual to pass on, I don't know. Shame - you would have the best DV work aide in the office!

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    3. Tonto; if you're from the old ASPT patch you could do worse than speaking to CRC TM'S Steve or Laurence. There will also be local experts in each office, Guy in Bridewell for example. Failing that, the cull of other programmes could in theory see BBR better resourced in future, or sit tight for the unaccredited short courses to take off.

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    4. Tonto - that 2307 isn't from me -ML,(isn't Bridewell London? Or is there another one in NW? At least they are trying to help you) I haven't given up on you yet (I'm a PO and we don't give up easily!) but appreciate it's difficult for you to identify exactly which part of NW you are from without risking losing your anonymity!

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    5. Tonto - Oops! I meant is there another one - Bridewell - IN THE SW? !!!

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    6. ML. Sounds like you like a challenge! Bridewell is the main bristol office! Not to far. I have close relatives in newcastle. If you are ever in whitley bay you could post it through my dad's letter box or knock on the door and he would take it in until i get up there to visit. St mary's lighthouse is always nice for a stroll!

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    7. Yes I can't resist a challenge, developed through years of youth work and the real Probation Service, helping people sort their problems, whether they wanted it or not!! Sometimes I wonder if I push too far!

      To get to the point, yes I know Wh Bay very well,(and St Mary's lighthouse), spent my childhood and teenage years there and a close friend lives there too. What an amazing coincidence! I live just over the river in Jarrow, a 15 min drive away!! Been thinking of how to contact you, and I do have contact with Jim occasionally - his email address is under 'About Me' at the top of this Blog site on the right hand side. Click onto 'email' on his profile and you can make contact with him, leaving your email address/phone nbr, and I can contact Jim,then phone or email you and you can give me your dad's address.

      I will email Jim tonight to tell him, tho' I'm sure he won't mind. I hope your dad has a wide letter box, or is at home, it's a fat package, tho' not hard backed. But I can contact you when I am planning to drive over, so you can ask your dad to be in!!

      See? easy! Another problem resolved- I hope! The Blog certainly brings people together! Thanks Jim!

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  9. There were always alternatives to this flawed TR model even if austerity were a given and cost savings were required on a considerable scale. Let's have a detailed examination of what TR has actually achieved. The question in Monty Python's Life of Brian 'What have the Roman's ever done for us?' did reveal on closer inspection some considerable benefits. I am sceptical that the same can be said of TR. What has TR ever done for us?

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    1. Good things are, sky rocketing case load, less time to do checks and assessments, fragmentation of communication and accountability, increased chance of SFO's, more upper management, more meaningless targets.

      hold on thats not good at all.

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    2. Erm... it's allowed the government to claim that it's created several thousand new private sector jobs. And got CRC staff wages and pensions off the state's balance books.

      Oh, you wanted actual genuine good achievements? Sorry... Nothing to see here, carry on.

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  10. PurpleFutures area: shelter have done a referral to a homeless unit. The unit have now got on to me to do an assessment as mine will be more thorough than Shelters. told them in no uncertain terms to Fuck right off.

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    1. I don't blame you. Ridiculous!

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  11. New PSR 'short report' template = worst report template I've ever seen.

    Whoever designed and endorsed it has never completed a Pre Sentence Report.

    Whoever did the IT is not fit to be near a computer.

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    1. The problem is we will be just left to struggle on with it. No one down in NOMS gives a monkeys about the ramifications of what they do and our so-called managers don't have the balls to say " no we won't use it until it is fit for purpose" - bunch of tossers.

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  12. Thanks ML that is a big coincidence! I will try to e mail jim as you suggest. Enjoy the good life in the NE!

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  13. I think it's an absolute disgrace that oral reports are done in domestic abuse cases!

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